[ANNOUNCE] Interview with Exadel's Max Katz about JSF and AJAX

I'm pleased to announce that JSF Central has just published an interview with Exadel senior systems engineer Max Katz. In the interview, Max talks about the key value and benefits of JSF, how it compares to other frameworks, why it is such a good fit for AJAX, and support for JSF technology at Exadel.

Here's a quote:

KM: What do you think is the key value of JSF?

MK: It's definitely the component-based approach to building web applications, and that it's a standard. JSF has introduced a new paradigm to web application development�building applications out of components. It allows developers to concentrate on application business logic rather than on little details of HTML and other plumbing that is common to all web applications.

Being a standard is very important for the community, and it helps vendors like Exadel create advanced visual tools. The component-based approach also gave rise to vendors building web components, which also benefits developers. Instead of spending two weeks on integrating a calendar feature into your application, you can now get a calendar component and concentrate on the business problem you're trying to solve.

KM: Let's talk about AJAX for a moment. What do you think makes JSF such a good fit for AJAX?

MK: It's the component approach that makes AJAX such a good fit for JSF. You develop your application out of JSF components that provide AJAX functionality. This approach hides all the complexity of JavaScript and XML. Developers don't need to work with error-prone JavaScript making sure it works in all browsers. The AJAX JSF components are tested, ready-to-use components. From the developer perspective, there is really no difference between using the commandButton standard component and using the JSF AJAX drag-and-drop components. The AJAX component is simply a lot more sophisticated in what it does. You can add AJAX functionality in a matter of minutes by using such components. It's very powerful.